In an Information-Centric Network (ICN), also referred to as a content oriented network (CON), a domain-wide unique name is assigned to each entity that is part of a content delivery framework. The entities may comprise data content, such as video clips or web pages, and/or infrastructure elements, such as routers, switches, or servers. The content router uses name prefixes, which can be full content names or proper prefixes of content names instead of network addresses, to route content packets within the content network. In the ICN, content delivery including publishing, requesting, managing (e.g., modification, deletion, etc.) may be based on content name as opposed to content location.
One aspect of the ICN that may be different from traditional Internet Protocol (IP) networks is the ability of the ICN to interconnect multiple geographical points and cache content temporarily or store content on a more persistent basis. This may allow content to be served from the network instead of an original server. Accordingly, the caching/storing may be used for real time data that is fetched by the user or for persistent data that belongs to the user or to a content provider, e.g., a third party provider. The ICN approach is being developed in several projects, such as Data-Oriented Network Architecture (DONA), Publish Subscribe Internet Technology (PURSUIT), Scalable and Adaptive Internet Solutions (SAIL), CONVERGENCE and Named Data Networking (NDN).